Cave Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos

Dean WickhamNovember 30, 2012

What I thought was going to be only a quick one night stopover in Vang Vieng, Laos, turned into several days as I realised that there was so much more to this popular backpacker town than drunken tubing. The town itself is pretty much as expected – lots of backpackers, bars, guesthouses and laid back restaurants, however to really get the most out of Vang Vieng, you have to head out of town.

The typical potholed roads of Laos made the drive to the caves a lot longer than it should have been, but the beautiful scenery made the bumpy drive worthwhile. When we finally arrived at our destination, after a quick safety briefing, we had to hop straight in our kayaks and paddle across the fast flowing Nam Song River to the other side, where we hiked through the drizzling rain to the caves.

There was a small restaurant built on a picturesque waterhole next to a tall cliff, but I couldn’t see any caves anywhere. The tubes on the bank of the creek meant that it must be somewhere nearby. It turned out that I was looking straight at the cave the whole time, and it was the rushing creek itself that flowed out through the cave under the cliff in front of me.

A group of people entering the cave on their tubes. It’s a tight fit!

The water was refreshing in the humid heat of the Laos wet season, and as I sat in my tube I had to fight the current by pulling myself along the guide ropes that had been put in place. At the cave entrance, I had to lie down flat to fit under the mouth of the cave, using the rock itself to get myself under. The cave opened up only slightly inside, and if I sat up I still would have hit my head on the roof. This is not a place for claustrophobic people.

With our head torches on, we explored the cave by pulling ourselves along the guide ropes, until the water ended and we ventured off on foot. What I found was some spectacular rock formations and patterns that have been formed by the flowing water.

Those of us that were more adventurous in our group went on further with our guides, squeezing through tiny gaps, at times having to monkey crawl just to get through. If it wasn’t for my guide, I would have been completely lost.

Eventually, as my legs and back began to tire, I found myself back in a fast flowing stream, and I used the water to carry me down the narrow cave, using my hands and feet to navigate the rocky bottom. This tunnel of water joined back onto the main water course where we rejoined the rest of our group, before exiting out of the cave the same way that we had come in.

If you’re claustrophobic, I wouldn’t recommend this experience, but if you’re adventurous like me, you will love it. Cave tubing is a whole lot of fun!

Hey Jade. I had no interest in tubing down the river with the drunken backpackers either. While I was kayaking down the river I witnessed first hand what they are like. The tubing is a lot of fun but the drinking part is a bad idea. It’s no wonder that people die.

I skipped the tubing as well, but had a great time cruising around the country on a rented motorbike. The landscape is simply amazing and swimming in caves and waterfalls and riding on a bike with the wind in your face is a much better way to beat the heat than baking under the sun in a tube.

It’s funny, I felt less claustrophobic when I was in a cave with water than a cave where I had plenty of room to walk. Water in cave is just such a cool feeling. I wish I had known about this when we were in Laos.Christy recently posted..McWay Falls at Sunrise – Big Sur